Railway signal-torpedo.



PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

I. BUTCHER a; P. PETER. RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPBDO.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.28, 1904.

Witnesses Auunsw. a. GRAHAM 00., not

UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

FRANK DUTCHER, OF VERSAILLES, AND PHILIP PETER, OF PITTSBURG, PENN SYLVAN I A.

RAILWAY SlGNAL-TORPEDO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed December 28, 1904. Serial No. 238.653.

To all whom/ it may concern.-

Be it known that we, FRANK DUTCHER, residing at Versailles, and PHILIP PETER, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signal-Torpedoes, of which the following is a specificaxtion, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to improvements in railway signal-torpedoes in which the case or box which contains the explosive compound is composed of paper, soft fibrous material, or cloth, and the present improvement has relation to the manner of securing the rail-engaging strap or member to the case.

While our present improvement/in its generic sense is adapted for attaching either a lead or a spring rail-engaging strap or member, it is more particularly intended to be member therewith. Fig. 2 is a transverse.

sectional view taken through the case at right angles to the direction of the rail-engaging member. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the member for attaching the springengaging strap, the strap being shown attached thereto. Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view of a fibrous torpedo-case, showing our improvement applied for connecting a lead rail-engaging strap thereto. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of Fig. 4, taken through the torpedo-case in a direction at right angles to the lead strap. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5, showing a modification of our improvement when used for attaching a lead strap to the fibrous case.

In carrying out our present invention any desired construction of fibrous case or box for containing the explosive compound may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of our present improvement. However, we prefer to use a case of the construction here shown, which consists of an outer cupshaped member 1 and an inner or bottom cup shaped member 2, placed within the outer member in an inverse position with the explosive compound 3 between them.

Our present invention pertains particularly to the manner of connecting the rail-engaging strap or member with the fibrous torpedocase. Since this improvement is particularly intended for connecting a spring rail-engaging member to the torpedo-case, we will first describe our improvement as applied for that purpose.

Reference being now particularly made to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, we provide a compressed or hard paper or other fibrous strap-attaching member 3. vided with curved laterally-extending flanges 4:, the curve of these flanges corresponding to the curve of the circumference or edge of the torpedo-case. When applied thereto, these curved flanges engage the opposite edges of the torpedo-case, as shown, and are held in this position by means of a paper, cloth, or fibrous band or ring, 5 which is placed around the edge of the torpedo and embraces the flanges at of the member 3 and serves to hold it firmlyin place. These parts are also united against accidental misplacement by being dipped into a suitable waterproofing composition. We attach the spring rail-engaging member 6 to the member 3 by means of a rivet 7, which passes through the spring and into the member 3. The member 23* being composed of hard material, the rivet serves to effectively unite the spring and the member. The two arms of the rail-engaging spring member are spread open, so that in applying the torpedo to the rail, either by hand or by what is known in the art as a torpedo-placer, there is no strain upon the rivet which connects the spring with its attaching member. Attention is directed to the fact that the spring is preferably connected to the member 3 to extend in a direction transverse that member, so that the strain upon the flanges is very effectively reduced.

If desired, and in some cases it might be considered advantageous, the member 3 may beformed of a cup-shaped hard fibrous device, instead of in the form of a strip. When so constructed, it is applied in the same manner and held in place on the torpedo-case by the ring 5.

In using a lead rail-engaging strap 9 it is placed under the member'3, and'in this event the member 3 may be constructed of cloth,

This member has its ends. pro

and the cloth may have its ends embraced between the ring 5 and the torpedo case, as shown in Fig. 4, or the member may be composed of adhesive cloth and cemented to the outer side of the case, as shown at 8 in Fig. 6. When the lead strap is used, the member which connects it to the torpedo-case may be of a soft fibrous nature, since it does not depend upon a rivet and does not need so rigid a connection with the torpedo-case.

We have shown herein some of the many modifications which may be made and yet embody our invention; but we desire it understood that other variations may be made without affecting our improvement and without departing from the scope of our invention as intended to be covered by the appended claims.

We do not make any claim in this application for the strengthening, holding, and resisting band independently of the flanged member, as this is made the subject-matter of the claims of a copending application, Serial No. 238,651.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An improved railway signal torpedo, comprising a fibrous case containing an explosive, a ring surrounding the edge of the case, and a member applied to the outside of the case and serving to connect a rail-engaging device with the torpedo-case.

2. An improved railway signal torpedo, comprising a case containing an explosive, a flanged member applied to the case, the flanges thereof located at the edge of the case, a ring surrounding the edge of the case and embracing the said flanges and a rail-engaging member connected with the case through the medium of the said flange member.

3. An improved railway signal torpedo,

comprising a fibrous case containing an ex plosive, a flanged member applied to the outside thereof with its flanges at the edge of the case, a fibrous ring surrounding the edge of the case, and embracing the flanges of said flanged member, and a spring rail-engagement member connected to the said flanged member.

4. An improved railway signal torpedo, comprising a case containing an explosive, composed of soft fibrous material, a flanged member applied to the outside of the case and composed of hard fibrous material, a ring surrounding the edge of the case and embracing the flanges of the flanged member, and a spring rail-engaging member attached to the flanged member.

5. An improved railway signal torpedo, comprising a case containing an explosive, a flanged strip applied to the outside of the case with the flanges at the ends thereof, the flanges located at the edge of the case, a ring surrounding the edge of the torpedo and embracing the flanges of said strip, and a railengaging member united to the case through the medium of the flanged strip.

6. An improved railway signal torpedo, comprising a case containing an explosive, a strip applied to the outer side of the case having flangesat its ends lying against the edge of the case, a ring surrounding the edge of the case and embracing the flanges of said strip and a rail-engaging spring member secured to the strip and extending in a direction transverse the strip.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK DUTCHER. PHILIP PETER. Witnesses:

W. D. MANSFIELD, CoRA LENHART. 

